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Dear Nigel,
You asked me if I would be willing
to put down a few words about our use of the PRISM Improvement
Experience, known here as the "Atkins Rail Lean Thinking
Improvement Experience". This I am delighted to do.
In Atkins the format is a three-day
"event". It is much more than a training course; it
is a very 'rounded' and effective learning "experience".
It is very intensive but great fun; a real, holistic
and systemic approach to improvement. Delegates learn
& practice "hands on" - they are not just talked at
or subjected to "death by bullet point". It teaches
the most appropriate and most powerful tools within
a pragmatic framework. There is a great deal of opportunity
for people to develop their own insights, and to share
the insights of others. It is a great foundation to
doing the improvement work for real and because the
very early stages of an improvement are actually commenced
during the "experience" delegates are able to "hit the
ground running" when they return to their place of work.
A key word/ re-action from our "experiences"
is "Surprise". The data driven approach that the "experience"
teaches has confounded the pet theories that a number
of quite senior people had about the root cause of issues
that they have been facing. This is great learning as
they can now focus their search on more useful hypotheses,
and more productive lines of enquiry. Another major
source of surprise is the reaction of a number of people
to the 'experience'; because the approach releases creativity
and talent we have discovered just how high people's
intrinsic motivation really is, given the right opportunity.
It seems to appeal very strongly even to people who
we thought would not be pre-disposed to a three-day
off-site "course", people who we thought we might have
a battle to convince. It is inherently a very relevant
part of everybody's day-to-day work; they just don't
always believe it until they have experienced it!
As training in hunting for and verifying root causes it is about looking for the small levers that are really going to have the biggest impact. If you are simply looking for a better sticking plaster, don't even bother trying it! It can be life-changing if you've got your mind open - it will present considerable challenges to those whose minds are closed.
Lean Thinking is proving immensely
popular in Atkins in the UK, and is now starting to
grow internationally as well. People see it extending
and deepening their area of managerial competence, and
there is a growing clamour from those who have not yet
had the opportunity to attend an "experience".
I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending this approach to others & am quite willing for people to contact me directly if they so wish.
Yours sincerely
Tom McCreery
Change Manager, Rail - Atkins Rail
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